More Than a Memory
by NeverShoutRawr
Summary: In her mother's latest impulse Taylor is forced to move to Japan for a medical trial. She had just given up on her hope of returning to the Naruto world and ever seeing Hidan or Itachi again. How will she react to seeing Itachi on her first day of school? Sequel to Stuck in the Impossible
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"She hasn't changed at all!" A woman's voice shouted from with in Dr. Moyer's office.

Dr. Moyer stood challenging her. "It's only been a year!"

"That's right! It has been an entire year and she has still made no progress!"

"She _has_ made progress, it's just hard to see to the untrained eye!" As hard as he tried, he couldn't keep himself calm when trying to reason with this woman.

The mother of his patient snatched her purse up. "You are wasting our time! I'm taking my daughter to someone who can actually help us!" She started storming out of the room.

The doctor rushed after her but the door was slammed promptly in his face. He glanced down at the manila folder on his desk. **Hench, Taylor Emily. **_She has made progress._

It was far too late though, Diane Green was already dragging her daughter to their SUV. By that time in the next week she'd had have her daughter on a 26 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan.

* * *

><p>Taylor stood by the door with her luggage. Her backpack was digging into her shoulders as she waited for her mother. Diane descended the stairs with her own luggage clunking against each step behind her. "Baby, go ahead to the car. I'll be right out."<p>

Silently and obediently Taylor wheeled her large bags to the SUV. She always hated when her mother called their vehicle a car. Their gas-sucking Navigator was nothing like a dainty Prius. As promised her mother filed out the door, her husband pulling most of the luggage behind him. He wouldn't be coming with them, at least not at the moment. It was too of short notice for them to just up and leave their house.

Most would think that Taylor would be ecstatic to be going 6771 miles away from her step-father. But she wasn't. She wasn't sad about it either. She felt nothing.

Diane and Mike kissed each other more than the comfortable amount for the public eye then Diane slid into the driver's seat. Before she even touched the ignition she looked at her daughter. "How about you drive, hmm? It'll be a good memory before Japan." Taylor didn't reply. She never replied anymore. Diane twisted the key. "I didn't think so." She muttered.

The car was silent. Diane knew better than to try and encourage Taylor with music, it never worked. "You know." She tilted her head in a serious manner. "I might have reconsidered if you put up a bit of a fight, but you just don't care anymore."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Taylor slump against the window. Her short hair reveal the nape of her neck. A pit grew in Diane's stomach. She still remembered the day when Taylor came home with her haircut. It was about a month after Taylor had woken up and probably the last time she didn't anything in rebellion. Back then it had been a very short pixy cut, now in the car to the airport it just touched her chin. Diane never figured out why Taylor suddenly chopped her pretty hair off.

The airport was a large one with about an hour or two's drive. The mother and daughter duo sat while their bags were checked and prepared for boarding in silence. Diane talked to Mike for a little while constantly taking a peep at Taylor to see her reactions. Taylor sat though, with a poker face made for the best and simply surveyed her surroundings. The one thing that caught her eye was a little boy. He was at his mother's side the entire time, never straying more than a couple of feet. Taylor tore her eyes away when she felt a frowning creasing her lips.

"Flight 672 to Tokyo boarding in fifteen minutes." Diane lit up a bit, holding her handbag closer. "That's us, girly-poo." Taylor nodded and followed her mother through the large crowd of people. It wasn't surprising that her mother could find her way around, she had always liked the city.

They sat in first class to try and avoid and all crowding. Luckily there weren't too many people on this flight anyways so both Taylor and her mother were able to have an empty seat beside them. It wasn't long until Taylor had pulled her hood up and laid back in her seat. She figured the more she slept, the faster the trip would go. Making the time fly wasn't the only thing on her mind.

_"Good morning." Taylor rolled over. The morning light hit her eyes. She rubbed her eyes thoroughly, smiling into her stretches._

_"G'mornin." She said while taking in the fresh morning air._

_"I've missed you." A hand caressed her cheek. Itachi laid in bed beside her. She swept her touch over the back of his hand._

_"I was only asleep." The light beaming into the room suddenly disappeared, cowering behind the clouds. Taylor smiled, it felt so natural. Itachi looked down his nose, his warm expression morphing into a disgusted one. The girl before him shirked. "What's wrong? Itachi?"_

_He shut his eyes as a moment of silence passed. When he opened them a swirling sharingan glared her down. "You think you're safe?" Madara's voice shrieked from Itachi. "Don't underestimate me girl."_

_Tears of blood ran from Itachi's eyes and Taylor saw black flames scorch her skin. As loud and as horrifying as she screamed the flames wouldn't stop. Madara reached for her_

Taylor's hand struck him. "Stop!" Her eyes snapped open. A boy held his head, wide eyed and slightly terrified.

He smiled timidly back to her, "I'm sorry, you just seemed to be having a rough time." Her hands were clenched to her chest and her knees were hugged against her body, as if she was an animal seeing a human for the first time. His hair was dark and his eyes were sharp.

Slowly Taylor lowered her knees, but not taking her eyes off of the boy in front of her. There were plenty of seats open, but most had at least one person sitting by them. The dream had been so short, how long had she slept?

With Taylor staring so intently the boy began to blush. "Sorry, that I took this seat. I just thought you'd stay asleep before another seat opened, sorry." How many times would he say 'sorry'?

Shifting his eyes over the head rests he scanned the rows for an empty seat. He stood up, more than likely finding a substitute seat. "I was having a nightmare." The boy turned back around, almost shocked she could speak. Taylor stared up at him. "So thank you for waking me up."

Sitting back down he smiled a little more confidently. "No problem I suppose." He reached his hand across the arm rests and in Taylor's personal bubble. "My name is Tye by the way."

The hand that was outstretched to her taunted her. _Will you take me?_ She did. "I'm Taylor." His hand was very cold for how warm the air was.

Noticing her slight change in expression Tye retracted his hand. "I'm naturally cold I guess."

"Cold hands are a sign of a warm heart." She countered.

His hands disappeared into his coat pockets. "So where ya headed to?"

Taylor glanced at the ticked projecting from her bag at her feet. It read _Tokyo, Japan._ "Japan."

Tye turned, his eyes showing more white than necessary. "For real?" Taylor just continued to stare at him. He stood up and yanked something from his bag over head. Slamming back into his seat he waved his ticket in her face. Albeit it was more than a little crinkled, it also read _Tokyo, Japan. _"Me too!" Laying it in his lap he grinned down at it like an idiot. "This is so fucking cool. Now I won't be the only foreigner."

The both of them stared at the ticket. Taylor looked up to his joyous expression, full aware it was about to crash and burn. "We won't be seeing each other again. I'm going there for a medical trial."

Again Tye's expression turned to utter glee. "Me too!" By the way Taylor cocked her head he could tell she was doubting him. He shoved his hands in front of him. "I shit you not." Out of sheer embarrassment his teeth bit his left cheek. "I have this thing called Salisomnia and it is basically when-"

"Me too." She was at the edge of her arm rest. Like they had no more room for words they just stared at each other in complete awe.

Diane craned her neck back to normal position. She had just witnessed her daughter doing about thirty things she hadn't done in an entire year in approximately two minutes. Whenever they landed she'd have to make sure she met that boy.

Four more hours into the flight and the two teenagers had slid themselves into their seats, challenging each other to a game of Words With Friends. "That's not a word." Tye proclaimed.

"Q-A-T. Qat. Google it." Taylor quipped.

"I have one letter left! And it's a 'j'!" Shoving the phone from sight Tye glared at Taylor. Thoroughly frustrated that he never lost at this. Scrabble was his turf.

Jadedly Taylor turned her screen towards Tye. He saw an app called 'WordHelper' sitting right next to Words With Friends. "You cheater!" His face read pure horror.

As any girl would, she rolled her eyes. He seemed a bit immature. But it was innocent. It was refreshing.

Taylor slid her phone into her bag below her. When had been the last time she had spoken to someone so much? Maybe it was because they had some common ground? There was just a hint of familiarity to him.

His familiarity now showed a far off look. His eyes were far away. Looking at something Taylor couldn't. "What's wrong, Tye?"

Tye's lips pulled at one side. "My family thinks I'm sick." Taylor immediately found her mother. She understood. His head hit the back rest. "I don't even remember much of my time while I was asleep." White noise is the most he could compare it to. That and fuzz. Sometimes he was able to catch glimpses of what he saw. But none of them made any sense.

"That's too be expected." It was the first time Taylor was able to use those four words herself.

If Tye had been a cat, one of his ears would have turned towards her. Her words struck a chord with him. He looked to her. "That sounded so…" _Familiar. _Just like his gaze, his voice trailed off.

"I think you're lucky." Tye looked to Taylor, caught off guard. She ran her hands through her hair, a habit that still tailed her from the times of long hair. "I'd do anything to forget those memories."

They sat in silence as a stewardess passed them. She offered refreshments. The both of them jumped at the break from the tense atmosphere. They settled with nuts and drinks. Tye offered her some soda but she politely declined, explaining of her proneness to acne.

Girls worried over such trivial things. Their weight, their makeup, their skin. Anything really. How cute.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw her flicking her straw around in her glass. "So you remember the things you saw?"

"The people."

Her voice was drenched in sorrow. Tye knew he was on egg shells. Still he went on: "How often do you see them then?"

"I don't anymore."

"Then why are you going to Japan?"

Taylor bent her straw to make it's flexibility crunch. "As hard as I try. I just can't see them."

His question was still unanswered, but somehow he felt as if it was. Her words sounded sad, obviously the story would be heart wrenching. Although, Tye just didn't care. He was known to be warm hearted and a very capable comforter. There was just something block his give-a-damn. Not to say he didn't like Taylor, he was probably going to be very close with her in the upcoming months. Yet he just didn't sympathize.

The dark night sky now shrouded the plane in darkness. Most other passengers were asleep. Only their area's light was dimly lighting them. "Maybe we should sleep a bit." Tye stood and clicked off the lights.

Taylor leaned her chair back a fraction. "Yeah." Pulling her hood up she rolled onto her side without another word.

There wasn't even the possibility of her sleeping though. The disappointment she woke up to when reality sat next to her was something she didn't want to face. So she would just sit in her seat and watch the sky transform colors and the sun awaken whatever region she was flying above.

The night sky was so clear. Was it clear in _their_ world too? Were _they_ still alive? Her eyes squeezed shut and her gut wrenched. Not a cool thought.

Why couldn't she see them though? Madara had said she had first been a spirit wandering their world. So why couldn't she return to that state. Even if she couldn't they couldn't see her that was okay. Just being able to see them in the flesh again would be enough.

That was a lie. And she knew it. Not being able to speak to them or touch them would be even more unbearable then her delusions of them. At least her dreams would respond to her.

She hated the boy sitting in the seat beside her. The past year she had shoved _those two_ into a tiny box. Thus making them nothing more than an occasional dream. Now it was as if she had just woken up. She couldn't stop thinking about them. The onset of questions and thoughts were torturous.

How were they?

Did Hikaru turn out okay?

Who, if anyone, blamed themselves?

Had Aki ever gotten laid?

Did they miss her as much as she missed them?

Taylor faced the facts. Now that she was going to be starting a new treatment, her doctors were going to force her to try and remember those two months. These thoughts were something she was going to have to revisit again.

Their voices were still fresh in her ears.

"_I like your hair tonight."_

"_You never cease to amaze me."_

"_I love you."_

"_I love you."_

"I love you." Taylor sat up. She couldn't handle it. Not in a cramped space like a plane.

Exercising deep breaths sat her chair up too. Pulling out some brochures from her small carry-on she was determined to distract herself. There was a nice, clean looking school on the front of one. She had been enrolled in the area's local school. At first Taylor had been outraged, not that it showed. She couldn't possibly fathom how she was going to survive not knowing a lick of Japanese.

Still, the school looked pleasant. But didn't all things look lovely on brochures? Her fingers brushed the English translations under each Japanese symbol. This wasn't going to help her adapt to reality. It felt more like a rite of passage. Isolation comes first. She doubted she'd ever make it to the transitioning stage, let alone reintegration. There was too much regret, to much of not saying enough.

Not enough of _them._

For the following hours that ensued Taylor sat and stared out the window until Tye woke up again and they were close to landing. The scenery was completely different. There was more water and the tree looked foreign, even from above. That's wrong. She was the foreign one now.

Taylor found it quite surprising the Tye was traveling on his own. Apparently his parents had moved to several international clinics for his treatment and now they were in too much debt to move with him now. Japan was already his second solo trip.

They both reunited with Diane in the baggage claim. Tye couldn't figure out why Diane was so excited to meet him. It was as if she was meeting Taylor's war bound fiancé for the first time. Nevertheless it was nice.

Against Tye's own opinion Diane was sure they wouldn't be separated. Practically through interrogation Diane found that Tye would be close to their own residence but at a different school. She demanded to speak with his mother. Slightly embarrassed Taylor simply browsed the gift shop while her mother insisted on Tye just living with him. It'd be safer, he wouldn't be alone, they could go to sessions together. All of which sounded very reasonable. Still, Taylor always found her mother's reasoning annoying and self-motivated.

Her fingers ran over a little doll in a green kimono. It looked so much like the one she'd worn. She noticed a little boy fighting with his brother. They were both of Japanese decent. Taking the perfect opportunity to leave Taylor reunited with Tye. He was sitting on his luggage watching Diane prattle on. "How's it going?" Taylor pulled her back pack onto her shoulder.

"I guess Mum agrees with your mom." He shrugged.

He didn't seem happy about it. He didn't seem angry either. He looked like he felt nothing. Just like Taylor. Taylor moved her gaze to her mother to avoid Tye finding her watching him.

Giddily Diane strode back towards the two teenagers. "It's decided!" She clasped her hands together. "I'll be making the arrangements for you to attend Taylor's school." She threw her arms around her daughter, "Isn't this great!"

A few people turned to look in their general direction. Public display of affections were a no go.

Shoving her clingy mother from her Taylor readjusted her backpack position. "You can't do that here, Mom." She said mom, but it sounded like 'idiot'. The distance between them was in plain sight as Taylor followed her mother through the blustering crowd. Tye followed in suit as well, not knowing what else to do in the awkward situation he was in now.

All of the foreign shouting around them filled each of their ears. It was enough to make a person cry. Nothing was familiar. Not even the language. Maybe they all had just taken advantage of that in America.

After they had navigated their way through the crowd they had to find a special taxi service for tourists. One that they could understand. Taylor sat in the middle of her mother and Tye. Tonight they were going to be sleeping in a hotel, the next night the rest of their luggage would arrive and they'd be able to start to move into their apartment.

All of the signs were in Japanese and Taylor was captivated. Each one she tried to decipher, yet despite her last week of intensive Rosetta Stone filled nights she could only read 'McDonalds.' And that was simply because of the giant yellow 'M'. Tye too watched everyone on the streets. Everything looked so fascinating, like they were seeing the world for the first time.

"You said, The Hotel Plaza, right?" The cab driver checked his rear view mirror to see Diane's reaction. She softly smiled and looked out ahead to see if she could find it first.

The car pulled to the curb in front of a building that looked like a Comfort Inn. Tye was the first to step out into the new world, Taylor on his heals. A couple people looked in their direction, but not too many. Tourists were common in Tokyo anyways. The city air smelled just the same as any city Taylor had been to before. All of the noise and talking clambering into one sounded just like New York City too.

A bellhop came out and started loading their luggage onto a cart. They followed him up to their room. It was a simple room with two beds. Nothing too fancy. There were two cheap yukata robes for them to wear. "Well this is cool." Tye put his face to the window and looked out over the city.

Diane plopped onto the bed nearest the door. "You kids better be ready for a whole world of culture shock." She pulled her purse to her lap before pausing. "And jet lag. Lots of jet lag." Through one of her compartments she pulled out 'Japan For Dummies.' Taylor glanced at her bag that held her laptop along with Rosetta Stone. There was always time for that later, even if she had literally nothing better to do.

"Have you studied up before coming here?" Diane absentmindedly made conversation with Tye. He responded politely, sitting beside her as if she could tell him anything of use.

To block her mother's voice out Taylor ended up plug her laptop in and popping her head phones in. She had gotten the basics down. The colors, numbers, 'Hello.' Now it was time for other basic greetings. She had taken three years of Spanish, now look where it had gotten her. In a foreign country and the Spanish language no where to be seen.

The task of even attempting to pick up a pencil and write a Japanese symbol was simply terrifying to her. There was no other choice though. There was no running away. Sooner or later Tye joined in with her. They shared ear plugs and he too started to get his foot in the door of Japan.

Taylor felt her eyes drooping around 1 o'clock Japan Standard Time. Meaning it was 11 at night back home. She was slightly afraid though. In one week she'd be starting school and she needed to at least be able to keep simple conversation. In a week and a half she'd be starting her clinic visits. She wouldn't be in school much anyways. So maybe there was no point…

Deciding to try her hardest she took some of their new Japanese currency and headed into the outside world. She could at least count how much it was for an energy drink. Tye accompanied her to the store they saw a block down the street. The store had a few other customers but it was fairly easy to navigate their way through the store.

There were two guys standing in front of what they had assumed were the energy drinks. They were both fairly tall. Well for the surroundings at least. Taylor didn't take too much notice to them until they were walking away. Unintentionally Taylor bumped shoulders with the shorter of the two. That was when she turned to apologies. The first thing she saw was blonde hair.

Long blonde hair. He looked at her from over his shoulder, one blue eye casting hate to her. She stood in place while she watched him walk off. If she hadn't known better she'd have said he was a _she_ from behind. Shrugging it out of her mind she focused back onto her selection of drinks.

Standing there though neither of them could read any of it. Even the simplest things were just too complex for them yet.

* * *

><p>A week later and school was upon the both of them. All three of them had now began settling into their empty apartment. Taylor and Tye had picked up their uniforms a few days prior. Each had a the theme of grey and red. Their ties were black though. Not too shabby on either of them.<p>

They'd both walked to the school and back several times to ensure their safety on arriving. In the past year Taylor had never felt so nervous as she did now. Scratch that. She'd never been so nervous.

The two foreigners walked through the school gates, trying to ignore the casual stares they were getting. Of course they'd stand out. Nothing about them fit in yet. A teacher awaited them at the school's doors. His name was Hiroshi Sensei. He would be their teach in JSL, Japanese as a Second Language. He even encouraged them to address him by 'Mr. Hiroshi.' American culture truly fascinated him.

Mr. Hiroshi guided them to their room. Room 3-D. They thanked him as he opened the door and they were forced to step inside. Their names were written in both Japanese and English. Were their names even able to written in Japanese?

The homeroom teacher waved them to the front. Taylor stuck to Tye's side as they stood in front of the classroom. All eyes were on him as the teacher prattled on in Japanese. He gestured to each of them. The only thing either of them understood was 'America' and their own names. When he was done speaking they both made smalls bows and waited for him to point them to their seats. They weren't even close to each other.

Taylor sat by the seats by the hallway. Tye sat somewhere in a corner. A girl sat in front of Taylor. She had long dark hair. Her bag had a bear key chain hanging from it. The boy beside Taylor was quite plain. He had side bangs and doodled on his papers, hardly paying mind to the teachers. That was what Taylor did all day. She examined the people around her. There was no use in trying to listen to the teachers. It wasn't as if she would understand anyways.

Unlike American schools the teachers moved in and out of the rooms instead of the students doing so. When lunch finally came Taylor found Tye immediately. They spoke quietly as too not draw attention to themselves. A few people approached them, all of them pretty capable with English. Which made Taylor feel like a complete moron. There she was as the new student and she couldn't even communicate. Cool, real cool.

The last period of the day both Tye and Taylor went to Mr. Hiroshi's room while the others went to their extra activity period. He gave them work sheets to start them on basic words and phrases.

And that was the sum of Taylor's day. She had hardly spoken and was now waiting for Tye outside of the Infirmary. They had both needed to be examined quickly by the nurse. Tye let Taylor go first.

Down the hall two voices came. It was hard to decipher them at first, but they were definitely both guys. When the two bodies turned the corner the first thing Taylor saw was blonde hair. Long blonde hair. She watched the boy from the street store walk closer and closer, talking with his taller friend again.

As he passed her she thought that he hadn't seen her at all. Then he stopped a couple of feet ahead of her. "Nani?" Enough anime had taught her that one. 'What?'

The blonde turned back to her. His blue eyes wide eyed. He had a look caught somewhere between confusion and anger. He drew his hands from his pockets and motioned to Taylor, obviously saying something to his friend over his shoulder.

Nervously Taylor tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry I don't-"

The blonde turned to his friend. His tall friend with his black hair in a ponytail. Her heart beat picked up to the pace of a heart attack as the tall boy looked over his shoulder menacingly. His eyes were dark as well. He said something to the blonde boy. Probably along the lines of 'hurry the hell up.'

The shorter boy stood there for second as the latter kept walking. He leaned in further to Taylor, making he lean back a bit. Was it because she was different looking? Then, everything stopped. "Deidara." The tall boy growled in a low voice. She knew that voice.

Without another look the boy ran back to his friend. Taylor's school bag hit the ground. Her body was shaking. There as no way.

Itachi. Deidara. She had just saw Itachi and Deidara.

* * *

><p><strong>It's up. Obviously. My lovely sequel is finally up! This is my sequel to 'Stuck in the Impossible.' Please forgive my hiatus. I hope that all of my lovely readers are back, and maybe even some new ones! The first chapter is slightly drawn out and boring, but I intend to jump right into the story after this, I promise! Do me a lovely favor and review for love! ~NSR<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Taylor never realized how much she loved her world after she woke up. Her world that showed no resemblance to _their's. _Affecting her in the same way as if she had locked herself in a dark room, she was allowed to numb her heartbreak. All she knew was that it wasn't _their _world. Who would've known that just with one fleeting second everything would crash in on her.

Tye had found Taylor in a heap on the floor. At first he thought she had just sat down while waiting for him but when she didn't respond to him at all he knew better. No matter how many times he asked her what was wrong or called out to her she just stared straight ahead. When they arrived at their apartment they had barely gotten their shoes off when Taylor's emotions flared. Her entire body shook and she clutched her face. She proceeded to lock herself in the bathroom and cry her eyes out on the floor. Tye didn't know what was happening at all. One moment she has the emotions of a rock and the next she is a heaping mess of hormones.

A point came when Taylor's eyes would produce no more tears. Her face burned and her chest heaved. Surely no one could remember the last time she had had any reaction so severe, or one at all. She was crying for her past year. For her 'death'. For Hikaru. For her family. For being alone. And for losing Hidan and Itachi.

She missed them. Before she had thought her feelings of regret came in waves, but now she realized it had been constant. Her heart constantly ached for them. To see them and to be by them. A fear came to her head. What if she had just imagined Itachi and Deidara? The human brain was a fascinating thing, could it have let her see a glimpse of them to sooth her weary mind?

"Taylor?" The door knob wiggled, held back by a locked latch. "Are you okay, honey?" Diane stood on the opposite side of the door, half worried half curious about her daughter's sudden state. On the floor Taylor laid for several seconds. Diane knocked this time. "Want to open up the door? Did something happen?"

Taylor's tears had weakly glued her face to the tile floor. Her mother's hand had slid away from the door when she heard some fumbling around coming from inside. She stepped away from the door when her daughter opened the door, her eyes already on the floor. "Just a little jet-lagged."

Diane's hands twiddled around nervously as her child wandered off quietly. Taylor found her way to the t.v. room. Tye was on the floor next to a low table reading a book. His chin was resting in his palm and he seemed not nearly as interested in the book as he probably wanted to be. When Taylor was close enough for him to notice he glanced up at her, he evaluated the situation. She still hadn't changed from her uniform.

He looked back at the small print laying in front of him. "You okay?"

She lightly sat across from him. Barely having an atmosphere of anything, just being in front of him like a ghost. "I saw them."

Tye's shoulders sagged. Silencing his confusion he looked up at her through his lashes. "Them?" By using such a vague sentence she must've wanted him to ask further. Her eyes were already trained on him. They spoke determination.

"My people." She referred to them as if they were hers, it struck Tye as a slightly off.

"From your Salisomnia?" Taylor answered with a silent nod. "Jesus, you okay?"

Taylor thought about telling him that she had been awake when it the sighting happened. "I'm fine." Not needing further explanation Tye returned to his book.

"Well the trial starts in two days, so maybe it's best if you just rest up." He motioned his book at hand towards their curtainless window. "Or you could always take a walk, that usually does the trick for me."

Outside the sun shown happily, inviting everyone to leave their houses. After changing into more casual clothes Taylor accepted the temptation of warmer weather. Her neighborhood was on the outskirts of Tokyo, not as busy but clearly not rural. Every sign she passed she examined as if it were a challenge. She could only recognize one or two symbols here and there, not anywhere near enough to even get the gist of the words.

Yet the streets seemed so organized, so new. It was refreshing to her. Several blocks away and throw in an extra couple of turns and Taylor found herself walking up a hill towards a what seemed to be a park. It had a nice feeling. People offhandedly passing each other. With her hands shoved in her pockets Taylor kept walking, looking at everything but the other people. A few times she caught the glances of passersby. Their glances only made her uncomfortable to the point where she'd rather have just went home. But walks were good, this was good for her.

The trees were still green, seeing as how August had only just passed. A warm breeze brushed Taylor's skin. Right in the middle of the path Taylor stopped. Each ray of sunlight touched her, warmed her. She shut her eyes, trying to lose herself in that moment. Her lips just about curved when her skin prickled. Chills shrouded her body and echoed into each one of her limbs. Her eyes bust open.

No one was around her. Her hands fell from her pockets and she turned to look behind her as well. Walking in the opposite direction was a tall figure. Their shoulders were sloached and each of their ears were covered by massive headphones. Those things only came to her later on, her main focus was on the person's hair. Even from the back one could tell it was slicked back. The slicked back hair contrasting against the large dark headphones was very light in color. One could even go as far as calling it- silver.

It took her a second to see the situation for what it was and only a fraction of a second for her to get her feet moving. All factors considered she almost tackled the man. "I can't believe it's-" The supposed Hidan started screaming at her. Only then did she see the obvious differences. His nose was far too large. Albeit the man was wearing glasses you could definitely tell his eyes were only but a boring shade of brown. And his 'silver' hair was nothing but a bad dye job the revealed his darker roots.

Immediately she let go, knowing how awkward the situation had turned. Taylor started trying to apologize, but the man only became more angered by her foreign tongue. By the harm he yanked her closer to him. It was just like how she had first met Hidan, but she was sure this wasn't him because this man had no air to him at all. Well other than that of an asshole.

Taylor's eyes unintentionally glared at the man, it was very distasteful of a foreigner. He screamed something in anger, a universal language, and thrust his arm backwards to wind up for a good ol' smack down.

His hand was caught by another. Behind him stood another person. The two of them got into a little duel of angry expressions and it ended with the Hidan imposter getting hit to the ground. Taylor could barely get a glance in at her savior before they were pulling her away as quickly as possible from the scene. She stared at the back of person before her. Although they were both running Taylor could identify that they had broad shoulders and a firm grip. A beanie flopped around on their head, covering their hair. Maybe she should've stopped following this person, but there was something that just had her running to keep up.

They were on the complete opposite side of the park when Taylor was finally released. Both were panting like dogs. Taylor looked over her shoulder, they were safe alright. "Oya, maa!" The words hit Taylor like a ton of bricks. Of course. She didn't understand. "Anata daijōbu?"

Not even bothering to look up Taylor just shook her head. "Sorry I don't understand." Her words faded out as her sentence went on. Her personal savior stepped towards her and grabbed her by the chin, making her head whip upwards.

"Then speak up some!" From under a knitted beanie two mauve orbs stared down at her. His widow's peak peeked out from the edge of his beanie. "Be careful a bit, will ya?"

Hidan. Her mouth propped open for the public as she stood there feeling the electricity in her body running to his touch. "You're not gonna pass out on me, are ya?" She shook her head like she didn't know what else to do. Because she really didn't.

As soon as his hand was back in his own vicinity Taylor's stomach pinched with anxiety. "Wait!" He hadn't even turned to leave. Anyone could tell he was a little put off by her reaction. Saying the first thing to come to mind Taylor blurted, "You can speak English?"

The mauve eyes squeezed out agitation. He shoved her head down. "That's just like you Americans to look down on us."

Seizing the opportunity she grabbed hold of his hand. "I didn't mean it like that." Her eyes brimmed with some pure emotion. "Please don't be mad." Pleading and sincerity were both laced into her voice, begging him to understand.

Hidan stared at her for a second before retracting his hand. Not sure what else to say he took a slow step backwards. Taylor stood stiff in place, not taking her eyes off of the man before her.

She couldn't believe it. God truly smiled upon her. Although his wariness of her stung a bit she didn't care. He was there. He was tangible. She'd _felt_ him. Feeling air trapped inside of her she let out a long breath. Like a weight had been lifted from her and before she knew it tears slid from her face. Hidan panicked on sighting.

"Holy shit, it's not a big deal!"

Her lips quivered yet still. Here she was making him panic and they hadn't even seen each other for more than two minutes. Quickly thinking of an excuse she flopped her hand in each direction. Hidan shook his head and took a couple steps backwards, there was no use sticking around any longer. "Just take care of yourself from now on, will ya?"

He was leaving her. Why was he leaving her? One doesn't just leave the person they love, and he had told her he loved her. If he remembered anything about her he should have at least remembered that!

That was when two and two only fit together. Just as she finished that short processing it dawned upon her. He didn't remember her. His rough smile wasn't the smile he had given to her so many times before, it was one of pity and sympathy. She was absolutely positive of all of these things when he turned his back on her.

A year of loneliness. A year of heartbreak. A year of yearning. An entire year of wanting nothing but seeing him. If she had gained anything from that year seemingly wasted, it was the determination to never lose him again if she was ever reunited.

"My name is Taylor!" She gripped the edge of her shirt. Hidan stopped and turned back in one fluid motion.

Pulling his hands from his pockets he licked his curved lips. Leaning across the gap he had made, he stretched his hand to her. "My name is Hidenori." When Taylor gripped his hand his lips curled upwards in charm. "But you can call me Hidan for short." He blew a wink to her before leaving again.

Taylor's hand hung in the air 'Hidenori' had left it in. Her eyes sunk to her empty hand. His voice. His eyes. His touch. All the same. Yet Hidan would've never been so gentlemanly. Maybe his personality kinks had finally been ironed out. But those kinks had been what made Hidan, well Hidan. Those were the kinks she loved.

She snapped back to reality and without another thought took off after him again. It's not like she could've walked back the other way anyways, there was an angry Japanese man just waiting to get his hands on her. Just ahead she saw him waltz out the park and back onto a street. Gravel flew up behind her as she took her speed up a couple of notches. Taylor found it ironic how their first encounter had been her running full speed away from him, now here she was dashing as fast as she could to find him.

Sharply she whipped left out the park and just as sharply she crashed into a person. For a of couple seconds she laid on the floor trying to regain her breath. Pushing her arm under her she sat upwards. Across from her sat a familiar blonde mirroring her actions . "I'm so sorry."

After she made her apology she realized that it was in vain. He probably didn't understand English anyways.

"We're in a hurry, aren't we." Deidara spoke clearly, hardly an accent to be found. Taking note of the shock that appeared on his face when he spoke his visible eye narrowed. "For the time being, just assume most people are more multilingual than yourself."

Japanese - 2. Americans - 0.

As much as she could Taylor kept her composure and she pushed herself from the ground. A small number of pebbles wriggled themselves into fresh cuts on her palms. Not sparing a glance at them she wiped her hands on her jeans, her mind was more focused on Hidan than her petty scratches. Deidara stood as well, his height rivaling her line of vision. "We seem to be running into each other quite often, yeah?"

The train of thought she'd previously been aboard had officially been hijacked. "Yeah, I've noticed." Stealing a glance around Deidara's thin frame she found Hidan no where in sight. _He's gone, again._

A slick smile balanced on Deidara's lips. "Somebody is distracted."

Taylor snapped her eyes to meet his. "I'm sorry for running into you and all." His eyes were the same shade of blue as she remembered. Granted his hair wasn't fashioned in such a girly matter, he looked the same. "I'm new to town." She extended her hand to him, a gesture that felt unnatural with this person.

His smile fell to the ground making Taylor's hand jolt which in turn brought his smile back again. "Don't be so formal! You knocked me on my ass so- I think we're passed that." A moment passed as they both just stood there being awkwardly silent. "You know, I'm meeting my friend for dinner, why don't you join us. Meet some new friends, yeah?"

Taylor thought back to her original intent. "I'm really sorry, I'm looking for someone and-"

Deidara sighed, agitation sounding loud and clear through his body language. "Well then why don't I just see you around." He walked passed her, barely avoiding bumping into her.

Maybe if it had been anybody else, they would've been confused and slightly irritated as well. Taylor wasn't. She knew he was sulking. His ego, just as all Akatsuki members' egos, was too large for his own good in which case being offered a rain check probably didn't feel too good.

As she took a couple of steps backwards Taylor watched Deidara walk away. She'd actually spoken with him. Not just him either, Hidan too. By the time she'd picked her search back up the trail had gone cold. There were too many turns, too many people. Even as frantic as she was to find him Taylor knew her chances of doing so were slim to none.

That entire night Taylor sat in her room on her make-shift futon bed. Her encounters of the day were still swimming around her. She rolled onto her side away from the streetlight shining in on her. Taylor bit her lip from restlessness. She couldn't sleep. Rolling back over she targeted on of her various suitcases. Sneaking across the darkness she unzipped the main compartment. She dug her hand deep along the side, her fingers gliding along a zipper. Inside sat a cold accessory. Pulling it into what light she had Taylor laid her eyes upon her faux Jashinist pendant.

Flipping it over in her hand she slid thumb along where she knew Hidan's inscription would've been. Her chest tightened. They were so close now. Even if he actually lived all the way in South Africa, they were on the same planet. They were close enough for possibilities.

Crawling back into her bed she tucked the pendant under her pillow. She stared at the ceiling until she eventually was subdued by sleep. Besides, the faster she fell asleep the faster she'd be able to wake up and start looking all over again.

* * *

><p>The walk to school was a mutually quiet one. Tye was busy analyzing anything that had a hint of Japanese on it and Taylor was too distracted by her daydreams to do the same.<p>

In fact she wasn't even really paying attention to where she was walking. If Tye hadn't been leading the way she probably would've never even made it to school in one piece. At school Taylor only came to her senses when all she heard was a clambering of nonsense. They _definitely _weren't in Kansas anymore.

They had arrived a little early allowing just enough time to visit the vending machines. Back in America Taylor never had time to do so, she was always either late or just didn't care enough to actually find one.

Going by colors Taylor decided on the purple canister. Purple usually resulted in grape, _might as well give it a try_. She hadn't even starting jabbing in the code when Tye looked over her shoulder.

"You like plums?"

Taylor slowly looked at him, giving him a classic 'are-you-stupid?' look. "No." Her tone could've been a bit less harsh, but who- in their generation- liked plums?

Tye tapped on the glass where her selection was. "Well that's plum juice."

Looking closer Taylor found no evidence of it being plum rather than grape. "How do you know?"

His finger pointed out Japanese lettering. "Pu-ra-mu ka-ju." Tapping with each syllable he drew his finger back across. "That's plum juice." Jabbing in another code a different can plummeted downwards. "That, my dear Watson, would be what you desire."

"Somebody's been a bookworm."

Walking back towards their homeroom Tye shrugged. "Japanese is just so natural to me, it's like I already know it."

Taylor shot him a look accompanied by a pregnant pause. "W-well," Tye focused forward, a light blush painting his cheeks darker by the second. "I just like it, that's all."

"Idiot." She teased before taking a sip from her drink.

Tye stiffened. _Idiot._ He said it over again in his head.

Just as the day before the day passed in a slow blur. The people sitting around Taylor made no effort to communicate with her, and she was pretty sure Tye was having no such luck either. Really, what was the point of putting them in school if they couldn't even learn anything anyways.

And just as the day before they spent their last period of the school with Mr. Hiroshi reviewing their practice worksheets. It was when Taylor was gathering her things that her peripheral vision caught sight of a certain blonde- and she was sure she'd saw someone else too.

"Oh no!" Taylor made for the door. "I left something back in our room, I'll be right back!" Neither Tye nor Mr. Hiroshi noticed she was going in the complete opposite direction of the room.

Luckily walking ahead of her Deidara and his tall companion. "Deidara!" She yelled louder than she expected.

Both Deidara and the taller fellow turned. Taylor avoided referring to him as Itachi for the simple fact that she didn't want to get her hopes up too soon.

They stood still long enough for her to catch up to them. "Fancy seeing you here." She tried to sound natural with _him_ looking at her.

Deidara grabbed his hip, "Yeah, fancy that."

Assessing the moment as perfect she turned to the other boy. "I'm Taylor by the way." She gave a polite bow.

He bowed in return. "Nice to meet you." His voice made Taylor tense. That was his voice alright, but… Taylor stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to say his own name.

"Good luck with that one." Deidara snorted. "He's as sociable as a honey badger." Going by as ignored Deidara stood there as Taylor continued to stare Itachi down.

Deidara's aggravation of the entire situation turned to boredom. Neither Taylor nor his friend were budging. He rolled his eyes, where was the point in any of this.

Rolling his eyes the tall raven in the end gave in. "Isami."

Taylor's face lit up. "Itachi."

'Isami' and Deidara looked at Taylor, one with a little more shock than the other. Deidara bust out to Taylor's confusion. "What?"

Uncontrollably Deidara continued to enjoy the best laugh he ever had. Taylor looked at Itachi who was looking anywhere but at her, annoyance grinding through his expression. Clasping a hand on Taylor's shoulder Deidara pointed a finger at Itachi. "Itachi is Isami here's baby name," He paused sputtering out another laugh. "He hates it!"

"I am so sorry!" She clasped her hands the hem of her shirt.

Deidara patted Taylor hard on the shoulder. "You are officially my favorite person."

"Shut up, Deidara." Itachi strangled both blondes with his eyes.

"I didn't mean to, Itachi." Taylor blurted again, making Itachi turn his eyes fully on her. Although they were of his natural soft brown coloring she could've sworn they shouted Sharingan. He curled his nose before stomping away like a diva. Not quite a diva but close enough.

Deidara mentioned something about 'Isami' being a drama queen before following his friend down the staircase.

While Taylor returned to Mr. Hiroshi's room she lightly hit her head. _Lovely, not even two minutes and I've already started this all wrong._ She stopped at the door. _So where do I go from here?_

* * *

><p><strong><em>ASLDKJAL<em>, now that I've gotten that out of my system I'm sure it's safe for me to say I don't like this chapter too much. Nothing really happened. BUT- progress my dear audience! Progress! I have it all pretty much worked out how I want it to work out, I just have to find spicy details to make you not fall asleep at the wheel. Feedback? Review for love~ NSR**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A cool breeze swept up Taylor's backside. The hospital gown she was wearing left barely any coverage for her to work with and she found it highly unnecessary. Still she sat in the tiny room waiting for her doctor to make their first appearance. All of the posters and signs around her were catered towards English speaking people. When she first stepped foot into the building even the receptionist was from overseas. Taylor supposed it was them putting their best foot forward to making their patients feel at home and welcome.

The forty plus minutes she was spending sitting alone in an insufficient gown did little to help their cause though. Today was only her evaluation, she dreaded seeing what an actual session would be like.

Finally the door handle wriggled and in stepped a male doctor. His hair was grayed and desperately tousled. Taylor's smile faltered a bit when she took notice to the medical mask covering the lower half of his face. "Sorry about being late, another patient had an episode." By his nonchalant way of speaking Taylor could only figure that for the most part that wasn't really the case. He wrangled a stool under himself and scooted in front of his patient.

"So tell me about yourself, Miss-" He quickly glanced at the folder in his lap. "Hench."

"I was diagnosed-"

"No." He put his hand up furthering his notion of 'stop where you are'. "I mean about _yourself._"

For a moment she sat quiet, assessing just what she should tell him. "Well, I moved here from the States." Taylor paused as she saw him scribbling probably what she had just told him down. "I'm going to be a senior soon."

He looked up from his writing. "Might you have an hobbies?"

"Not lately." She said truthfully. _Unless you'd count going straight home from school a hobby._

Wagging his pen at her, his cheeks curved upwards, indicating he was probably smiling. "Honest, I see." The doctor continued writing. One could only imagine what it was he was specifically writing. Obstinate? Blunt? Rude? Unsocial? She began to question if coming here was really the best idea her mother had ever thought up.

The messy haired man shut the folder and sat aside both the folder and his pen. He clasped his now empty hands between his knees. "Our treatment here is really all about helping our patients deal with their diagnosis."

'Diagnosis' Every medical personnel who'd spoken to Taylor about her Salisomnia had never used the terminology 'illness' or 'disease'. It gave off the feeling that they were trying to add some normalness to the situation. Taylor scoffed a bit. There was nothing normal about her 'condition.'

"Do you have any concerns?"

Taylor shook her head. "No."

He kept his eyes on her for a second, then he too shook his head. "Well, this was the quickest appointment of my career." He extended a hand to his newest patient. "I will see you in couple days or so then."

Grateful that she could put her clothes back on, really what was the point of the gown, she quickly took his hand. Black font was embroidered onto his lab coat. Instinctively Taylor tilted her head, trying to see the rest of it, all she could read was 'Tak.' The doctor quickly flattened his coat out, "Sorry about that."

Suddenly Taylor felt just how cold she really was. "Guess I didn't introduce myself, huh?" Once again he offered his hand. "The name's Takashi. Takashi Hatake."

It's a coincidence. That's all. Taylor made herself grab ahold of his hand to give him a firm shake. Standing stalk still, she waited for him to leave. Just as he last foot was out the door he looked again at her. His eyes closed as his cheeks rose to his eyes. "See you soon."

With the door shut Taylor rushed to pull her gown off. Whatever compensation for clothes it gave was way too much. With her chest heaving the collar was suffocating her. Unable to take it she reached around to her back and ripped the tiny ties. They easily broke and gave way as Taylor shoved it from her body. She felt so light headed that she practically fell onto the spinny doctor's stool. No matter how she viewed it, that doctor was Kakashi. Even his habit of being late screamed into her face. Calm down. Yes, this was the first thing she needed to do. Put your clothes on. She did as she said.

From the past year, sometimes all she could do was force herself to do things. This was no different. When the last zipper was finally zipped and her shoes retied, Taylor felt much less confused. Her doctor driven from her thoughts entirely. Not from sheer air-headed-ness, but from force. Walking out into the tidy waiting room Taylor walked right past the receptionist desk and into the parking lot. Across the lot sat her mother and Tye. Both sat on a bench. She shoved her hands in her pockets and walked towards them. They met half way in the lot. Diane smiled and asked about how the appointment went. Taylor shrugged her shoulders.

"It was all right."

Her mother tucked her purse tightly under her purse. She wanted to call up that old quack Dr. Moyer and rub it in his face. _This... This is progress._

* * *

><p>"Did you realize that Kyoto was Japan's capitol before Tokyo?" Tye pushed a book in front of Taylor's face. "They just took the 'to' and put it at the front of the word." One corner of his face pinched upwards.<p>

There was little of interest to Taylor in that book. She was far more concerned with craning her neck over and around the crowd moving around her. She was looking for something far more compelling. She accidentally shoved into someone, their shoulders colliding together. Tye yanked her to his side before she could see more than the back of the boy's spiked hair.

"I don't know where you are, but you need to be here." Tye threw his bag over his shoulder._ Lord only knows where her head is_, he rolled his eyes and marched into the school.

Taylor's shoe locker wasn't anywhere near Tye's, but she wasn't even stopping at hers. The last couple of days she had been wandering about the establishment on a scavenger hunt for two particular boys. After she had 'met' Itachi for the first time, he had done a pretty good job of avoiding her. Even Deidara was no where to be seen.

Sooner rather than later Taylor had to go to her homeroom. With her seat next to the hallway she could still scan the passing students for Itachi.

He didn't show.

Taylor tucked her feet under her seat, watching the teacher talk about what was supposed to be English grammar. On the board he wrote perfect sentences, though they did seem a bit formal to her. 'The girl stood to receive her academic award.'

Alone, this class kept Taylor's attention. The other kids seemed to glance at her and Tye, wishing they'd speak up. Taylor purposely stared at anything but the teacher when he was looking for volunteers. She heard a chair scoot out which meant she had successfully avoided another attack. "In front of the entire school Ashley stood and waited for the award to reach her hands." Taylor's headed cranked around to see Tye standing up, book in hand. "Her principal congratulated her and gave a small speech in her honor."

When he sat back down a small blanket of whispers lay over the entire class. Their teacher nodded, a proud smile gleaming. His eyes soon found Taylor, she was too late to make another attempt at going by unnoticed. "Miss Taylor, would you like to take up where Mr. Tye left off?" His accent made him seem more polite than he was trying to sound.

Taylor shot Tye a quick look and flipped her book to the page on the board. After a quick second her eyes found the sentence and she stood. "Every student watched the award ceremony with envy." Her voice cracked when she first started. It was the first time she had spoken since the morning. "If only they had worked a little harder, that award could have been in their hands. 'There is always next year.' Said the principal to the crowd of students." She lifted her eyes to the teacher, his smile allowed her to return to her seat.

This was the first time she was truly grateful for not being able to understand Japanese. She didn't want to hear what the others were now talking how arrogant must she seem to them? Maybe her foreign silence the equivalent to her putting her nose in the air.

For the entire rest of English class Taylor observed the heads tilting in her direction. Several times she met eyes with one of her classmates only for them to quickly look back to the front of the room. One boy failed to do the common action of the class. Taylor couldn't make out his face, seeing as how he was more on Tye's side of the room and the boy kept his gaze fixated on the board. His naturally spiked hair made him a dead-ringer for the boy from that morning.

As soon as the period ended and it was time for lunch he grabbed whatever he needed and made for the door. Taylor leaned forward to get a good look at him, but he was already gone. Tye stood beside Taylor, his tie just as neat as it had been when he put it on. "Mr. Hiroshi said that we could eat with him today if we wanted to." He rose an eyebrow to Taylor, hoping to speed up her response.

She nodded, "Yeah. That's fine."

When they were at Mr. Hiroshi's room Tye pulled some coins from his pocket. Counting out a certain amount he poured them into Taylor's hand. "Could you go grab me a drink from the machines?" He pointed down to the end of the hallway. Sure enough, there stood two vending machines.

Standing in front of them Taylor felt slightly daunted. All of the foreign language screamed at her. Thumbing one of the coins she picked out the grape drink from before. Who hates grape soda anyways? Taylor had just pushed a coin in when someone bust out laughing. All of her senses on end she slowly turned to look around. No body was in the hallway, most people more interested in their lunch. She swung her head towards the staircase. A single teacher passed on the lower level. That only left the staircases to the next floor.

Without hesitation Taylor abandoned the two machines and climbed the stairs. By then the laughing had died down. Now only a muffled conversation hit her ears. It didn't take Taylor long to realize that that staircase led to the roof. When she neared the door she ducked down. Slowly peering over the door her stomach did a little dance.

In the sunlight several yards away sat Deidara and Itachi. Something inside her felt relieved. There was Itachi, spending the downtime he had on the roof, without that burdensome cloak. No one was condemning him to hell. Taylor's finger slid down the glass window between them. Itachi's eyes moved in her direction.

She ducked below his sight. That was enough for today. Just seeing him was okay with her. She twisted around on her toes, ready to creep away, except a pair of feet stood between Taylor and her escape route. Before she looked at the owner's face, Taylor was grabbed by her shirt and lifted into the air. Her feet barely touched the ground and she winced from her collar digging into her neck.

A deep voice chuckled something out in Japanese. But even in Japanese the intimidating tone was unmistakable. She only realized her eyes were shut when Taylor had to force one open to view the man before her. Albeit his skin wasn't nearly the shade of blue it was before, there was no mistake to be made. Holding her in the air was Kisame.

One fluid motion later and Kisame had kicked the door open and had dropped her on the rooftop. He chuckled something towards Deidara and Itachi. Kisame burst out, his thunderous laughter earning a smirk from Deidara. "Well look what the cat drug in."

Kisame rounded Taylor and slid down beside Itachi. Jerking his thumb towards Taylor, he muttered something foreign to the other two. Deidara answered him with yet another round of smirking. "What?" Deidara looked to Taylor as she spoke up. "What is he saying?"

"Only that it seems we have yet another fangirl."

Her face flourished into a deep red causing her ears to practically singe her hair. "I was on my way to get a drink and I couldn't help but hear you." Deidara rolled his eyes as if to say, 'yeah, okay.'

And as a silence settled over her and Deidara spoke to Kisame about something in Japanese, Taylor's eyes drifted inevitably drifted to Itachi. His eyes were trained below her. She followed his gaze to her foot. It was positioned just awkwardly enough to make her ankle look near broken. Her dark socks were tugged past her calves, yet he still stared at her ankle. She tucked her feet underneath her, forcing Itachi to look to her eyes instead.

She smiled to him, not the least bit nervous. Why should she be? This was someone she knew better than most. Well she at least she did at one time. "Hello, Itachi-san." Although the honorific sounded forced, it still slid off of her tongue easily than anything has during her last year.

That made Kisame loose it entirely. His fist collided with Taylor's arm in a form of friendship. Apparently they were friends, again. Itachi scowled at Taylor but offered no words to force her into silence. "I should probably head back." She was the one to force the break of eye contact. "My lunch is waiting."

When she stood, her footing faltered and she almost took a nosedive to the ground. "I'll take her back." Itachi stood, to the surprise of Deidara and Kisame.

"Isami?" Kisame flashed a dirty smirk at Itachi then it trailed to Taylor, his teeth just as shark looking as she remembered. For some reason Taylor couldn't help but smile. His smile, he teeth, his chumminess with Itachi. All of it smelled of remembrance. That was part of what Taylor had been missing.

Still she said to Itachi, "You really don't have to, you know." Her heart picked up its pace as Itachi started off in front of her. That was exactly what she had been hoping for.

They left his friends behind and headed down the staircase. Taylor was never more than two steps from Itachi. Several times she caught him looking back at her. As they came to the bottom of the stairs, Itachi stopped. "Itachi-san?" He turned to her, his dark eyes glowering down on her.

Taylor was still on the last step, making her near eye-level with the raven. "Itachi-san?" She repeated. At her words his eyes narrowed. She took her level up another step, never being one to win his stare downs. He took the step between them.

"Why are you calling me that?"

"Calling you 'Itachi-san'?"

"Yes."

This time she stood her ground. "I can't call you 'Isami'." Her hand grasped the railing beside her, re-enforcing her stance. "Itachi-san."

Itachi reached out and grabbed the railing beside her hand, their touches grazing one another. He set one foot beside her, lifting himself to her step, and leaving only centimeters between them. "Then why, do you call me 'Itachi-san'?" His voice was reduced to a whisper.

His hand crept over hers, making her knees nearly give out. "Itachi." The honorific was lost and her grip tightened around the railing.

"Taylor." His lips pressed down onto hers. The other hand of his slid around Taylor's waist and swept her up against him. Her hand was being virtually constricted by his. This was not the kiss of a stranger, but the kiss that Taylor had shared with Itachi before.

Something was off though. Taylor pushed Itachi away with her own two hands. Not feet away merely just a lips' separation away. Her hand slipped out from under Itachi's. As close as they were, she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes. There was something about their last moment, the impulsiveness of it perhaps, that had her thrown. "I thought you were a dream."

Her eyes now drew up to his. "What?"

"I dreamt of a girl who called me that." He brushed his hand up against my cheek. "I knew better, though. I knew you were out there. I just didn't know where." A single finger trailed her cheek. "I remember tears streaking down your face when I said I'd never let you go." Those were probably some of the last words she had remembered he said. As she neared death.

Suddenly footsteps came from the roof level. Kisame and Deidara came down the steps, Deidara in front. "Guess somebody's at the front gate." Itachi shirked away from Taylor and followed Deidara down rest of the steps. Kisame patted her head, the weight of his arms pressing down on her entire figure. A reassuring wink made her follow him down the stairs too.

The group ahead of Taylor caused a lot of heads to turn towards them. Just as she remembered.

Taylor lost herself in a crowd of others gathered at the sight. Sure enough there was someone at the front gate. Not leaning there nonchalantly, nor waiting with a group of others. No he stood there by himself, his arms crossed and a scowl burning on his face, a beany hiding most of his hair. Taylor's hand naturally found its way to the hem of her shirt.

Itachi approached Hidan. Nothing but tension filled the air. From her distance she couldn't make out their conversation, but she did notice Itachi's single glance to her. A picture flashed through her mind. It was of the night Itachi had found her standing in the road to Konoha. She had burned a picture of those two standing together into her memory, sure that it would be one of her last chances to. But there they were, together in front of her once again.

Before Taylor knew it she was pushing my way through the crowd of students. She broke through and Hidan saw her immediately. It was much different from the time she met him in the park. This time a look of pure anger rushed through him. He shoved his hands into Itachi's chest, yelling something at him in Japanese. Alarmed at once she picked up her pace to get to them. Wedging herself between Hidan and Itachi, she stood with her arms spread wide.

"Move." Hidan's voice failed to restrain his anger.

"No."

His body visibly tensed. "Move." He repeated.

"No!"

"You little-" His voice trailed off but he rose his hands. Taylor knew he wouldn't hit her, so she just stood her ground, waiting to see which of them would blink first. Why all the hostility anyways?

Of course she already knew he wouldn't hit me. She just did not foresee him wrapping his hands around her throat.

* * *

><p><strong>I updated! I did it! Of course it is short, and I am sure very confusing I promise it will all unravel in due time. For the most part I hope it's coming along nicely! Every single one of your reviews have really helped me with this chapter. So please do not withhold your comments or concerns! Thanks again loves and review for love! ~NSR<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Taylor's fingers dug into the back of Hidan's hands. He wasn't lifting her into the air, rather pressing downwards. Smothering her very being. His eyes spoke nothing. It was like something had possessed him. Kisame came up behind the silver haired Jashinist and clocked him in the back of the head. He was out and slumped on the ground in less than a second.

"What the hell?" Tye shoved through the crowd.

Everything began to swirl and Taylor's knees began to weaken. Two arms kept her from following Hidan to the ground. Her neck went limp making her head bob around her. Itachi was looking down at her with wide eyes. Not too far off Tye was seen confronting Deidara of all people. All the sound began fading out as Taylor list consciousness.

When she woke up she was laying in futon. Her head hurt. In fact it was throbbing. As she lay on the floor her eyes scanned the room. It wasn't the infirmary. Or even her apartment. So where was she? Forcing herself to sit up she saw someone pass her room. The house was obviously Japanese architecture, meaning the door was a sliding door. "Hello?"

Her voice sounded like a croak. Lightly she touched her neck, it was very tender. Pushing the thick blanket off of her, she stood. At her door she looked everywhere for some sign of life. No one seemed to be around. Right beside her room was another. That door was also open. She peaked around and saw another futon with a lump within it. Tip-toeing closer to the mass, Taylor began to see a tuft of silver hair. Her breath hitched in her throat, but she continued on.

Hidan was sleeping on his stomach. His face being the only barely visible part of his body Taylor scooted around to that side of him. Not a single scowl or frown to be seen. She could feel her lip quivering. Even before, she had never seen him look so peaceful. So without hatred. Before she knew it, Taylor too was laying on her stomach, her face towards him. As gingerly as she could Taylor moved the blanket away from his face. His eyes weren't moving at all.

She extended her arm and lightly touched his face. There he was. After being apart for so long; there he was. Why had he been so angry with her? Had he not just seen her the day prior? Her thumb stroked his cheek, no stubble just as she remembered. Her middle finger traced his lips, soft and so tempting. She couldn't help herself, she looked back up to his eyes.

Which were no longer shut. They were staring at her, drowning her in mauve. A certain amount of fog clouded them. His hand appeared out of the folds, reaching for her. She never flinched. In fact she scooted closer to him His hand ran itself through her hair, leaving it strewn across her face. Brushing again out of her face, his fingers acted just as Taylor's had by mapping her every feature. "I missed you."

Taylor's heart stopped. Her eyes ravaged Hidan's face. What did he just say? "Hi-" His hand fell back onto the futon while he eyes rolled back into his head.

"Taylor."

Every inch of her body shuddered. Rolling onto her back she saw Tye standing over her. An air of relief settled in her.

"What're you doing in here?"

Instinctively she looked back at Hidan. He was out again, as if nothing had ever happened. "I was just-"

Not even bothering with her response, Tye leaned down and grabbed her by the arm. "Let's get out of here." He started leading her out of the room.

"Where exactly is here?"

"Isami's family's place."

Taylor jerked back. "Why?"

Tye looked over his shoulder at her. He never said anything, just gave her a dead cold stare. It was more than enough to convince her to keep moving. Taylor could only get one last glance at Hidan with his arm still hanging out of his blanket and exposing his face. "Let's go thank his mother for making sure you were okay and go home."

_So that's why we're here._ They came to what seemed to be the kitchen. There were several sliding doors, all of which were shut. Tye only stood there, like he was waiting for something to happen.

Which it did.

The door opposite of them slid open and there stood a woman with jet black hair. She was unmistakably Itachi's mother. It was Mikoto.

Taylor forced a believable smile and bent herself into a bow. Beside her Tye spoke for her, "Anata no enjo o arigatōgozaimashita."

"Dōzo, shinpaishinaide kudasai. Sore wa watashi no yorokobideatta . Anata ga kanojo no sewa o suru koto o kakuninshitekudasai." Mikoto spoke softly in her motherly way. Surely she was being as hospitable as usual.

Tye leaned towards Taylor. "She says that I should make sure I take better care of you."

Taylor smiled. Mikoto never failed. When she stood straight again it was odd. Taylor felt herself on the verge of tears. Seeing Mikoto standing before her was like she had seen a ghost. Someone risen from the dead.

"Where's Itachi?" Taylor looked to Tye.

"Itachi?" Mikoto drew Taylor's attention back to her. The mother had a hand over her mouth, hiding her surprised face. Mikoto took another step forward. "Itachi?" She nodded, coaxing Taylor to say something.

Slowly Taylor let out a breath, as if breathing to deeply would set off alarms. "Itachi."

A bright smile lit up Mikoto. She pointed to a door to Taylor and Tye's right. Taylor assumed that was where Itachi was. Her chest tightened. There was some amount of nervousness behind everything. A hand pressed on her back. Mikoto stood beside her now, pushing her forward.

Against the looks Tye was throwing her, she moved towards the door. Before she knew it she was throwing the door open. Lounging through out the room was not only Itachi, but Deidara, and Kisame as well. Deidara threw his hands in the air. "Ay! It awoken!"

Itachi stood, making his way to Taylor. A smile floated on his face. "Good afternoon."

_**That's not Itachi. Not the real one.**_ Taylor felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She looked around. No one seemed to have said anything. _**Don't be so blind. You're smarter than that.**_ Her blood ran cold. The voice wasn't her own. It was familiar. She just wanted it to stop. As Itachi drew closer it grew louder. _**Go on. Go to him. Go to the fake. **_Taylor jolted back. It stopped. Her adrenaline had kicked in and she felt nauseated.

Itachi seemed alarmed. Taking a step again, Taylor took another back. "I want to go home." Tye placed a hand on her shoulder and backed her out of the room. The looks on the three men's faces was no less than confused.

They hurried past Mikoto, and out of the house. Night had fallen and the street lights were already alight. "You seem upset." Tye said at some point on the way back. "Something the matter?"

Taylor just smiled. "Nothing." The truth was that she was terribly nauseated. She felt woozy and incredibly light headed. "I just want to go home."

When they got back, Taylor immediately fell onto her bed. Tye fetched her a drink. She couldn't tell how long it took, but before she knew it she was out again.

* * *

><p>Something smelled good. Like cinnamon buns. <em>My head doesn't hurt.<em> I sat up, my eyes still shut. My room was bright. How long have I been asleep? I opened my eyes to golden sunlight blinding me. Once my eyes adjusted I got a good look at my surroundings. It was my room. At Aki's.

There were no second thoughts. There was no thinking about the logistics. I was down the stairs in no time at all. Standing in the kitchen was Aki. He was baking. Just like Aki would. "Aki?"

Once he set down the rack of buns at hand he looked at me. Annoyance prevalent. "Glad you could join us." I was speechless. It was Aki. I was in the Bakery. "Don't just look at me like that." His nose crinkled. "Go entertain those criminals before they make a scene."

Criminals. Akatsuki. Itachi. Hidan. I shoved off the wall I was standing next to. Standing around the empty room was the Akatsuki. My Akatsuki. Hidan and Kisame and Itachi and Tobi. They were there. "Hi." I bubbled.

Hidan shoved in front of Itachi. "Hey, hot stuff." Kisame rolled his eyes behind him.

"Hi." I walked around the counter.

"Aren't you going to say anything other than 'hi'?" Hidan leaned against the counter with ego pumping through his words.

Itachi stood, stoic as ever. "Maybe she has nothing to say to someone like you."

Hidan flared. "How about you shut your trap, Pretty Boy!" Bliss. Everything was bliss.

Shutting my eyes, I drank in the atmosphere, the smell, the morning sunlight. Everything. This was where I belonged.

When I reopened my eyes I found everything stopped. Mid-motion and frozen. "Hidan?" I whirled to Itachi. Him too. "Itachi?"

What happened?

"This is a memory." My nausea was back. I jumped forward. Standing behind me was Tobi. No. It was Madara. "This happened long ago."

I shook my head. "No. This never happened. This is new. This is real."

His smile leaked through his mask. "Time plays tricks on the mind, dear _Taylor._" I shuttered. His voice. It wasn't Madara. Or Tobi.

The way he spoke my name. It was Tye.

"Get away from me." I took a step back. The morning light faded. It was dark. Blue shadows stretched through air. The warm atmosphere was no where to be found. It was only Madara and I.

"Due time, _Taylor._ But that might be sooner than I had hoped."

"Get out of my head!" I picked up a salt shaker and lobbed it at him. Everything went black.

* * *

><p>Taylor awoke to her own screaming. Tye was holding her down. "Taylor!" He tightened his grip once she stopped. "Calm down, please!"<p>

Her room was dark, barely any moon light shifting through the clouds. Every breath was shaky. "What happened?"

Tye pet her hair out of her face. "You had a nightmare." He smiled, but his smile was a bit off. It wasn't comforting at all. "I'm just glad you woke up sooner than I had hoped."

"Than-" Taylor stopped. That voice. It was the voice from Itachi's house. It was Madara's voice. It was Tye's voice.

* * *

><p><strong>OH MY GOD! How long has it been since I updated? Please tell me I still have a couple of faithful readers hanging on! I am so sorry that it is short! I figured it would be better to get something up as soon as possible! I might go back and redo it, I just wanted to let you know I am still alive! Alright give me some review love! ~NSR<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

><p>"Get off of me." Taylor spoke as calmly as possible to the boy holding her down.<p>

Tye's smile twitched as he pulled himself away from the freshly awoken Taylor. "That is one way to thank me."

Pushing herself up into a sitting stance, Taylor made some extra space between her and Tye. She kept her eyes trained on him, refusing to lose sight of him for more than necessary. Tye took careful notice, his smile never breaking. "You know Taylor-_chan_; it is rude to stare, no matter what world we might live in."

There was no mistaking it. That voice, that chilling and threatening voice, was unambiguously Madara Uchiha. "Funny choice of words- _Tye._"

He stood in front of her, making a slight chill run through the room, and walked over to the bedroom door. Flipping the lock he turned back to her. "It has been too long." His face was that of who she had known to be Tye, but now there were clear distinctions from before. His brown eyes were much more focused, his face less lenient to oncoming emotions.

"How did you get here, Madara?" Every ounce of loathing she had in her ran through Taylor's words.

"I told you not to underestimate me, woman." He circled her, as if examining her. "Make this easier on yourself. Do as I say, and this can better the both of us."

As Madara rounded her back, Taylor skid around to keep him in her line of sight. "What in the hell could you possibly want from me? You already know I haven't seen them since I died in that world!"

He stopped his circling and stood tall in the moonlight, his eyes shooting through the darkness. "You lack the motivation to rewire your connection."

Taylor's hands struck the floor at her sides. "Lack the motivation?! Do you have any idea what I have been through in the past year! All I want to do is go back!"

Madara grabbed Taylor's face in one hand. "Do not raise your voice at me, woman." His grasp tightened as Taylor tried to yank away. "All you are doing is fawning over memories."

Blood rushed to Taylor's face, only fueling her anger. "Get away from me!" Taylor growled out and dug her nails into the backs of his hands harder than she had for Hidan. As hard as she pressed, Madara showed no sign of pain. Moving her hands from that same spot, Taylor ripped her nails down his hands. Still, there was no reaction from the mind tightening his grip.

"This body is merely a vessel. It feels no pain." His words made the rushing blood drain back out of her face, and somewhere towards her stomach.

With blood coating her fingertips, Taylor writhed in Madara's grip. Obviously Madara grew impatient with the girl making futile attempts at escape. He tangled his hands in her short hair and held her still until she pacified. "Listen, before I decide to rip your hair out." When he saw the whites of her eyes flash, Madara took that as a perfect opportunity to move on.

"This body is incapable of allowing me to move between this world and the other. You can say I am working on borrowed time. This body belonged to a dying boy. Just as he passed, a doppelganger soul of mine took over. Because I am not the original soul, if I were to project myself into the other world, it would not hold a strong enough bond for me to return."

Disgust evident in Taylor's eyes, she could only imagine the body rotting from the inside out. "So just keep finding bodies."

Agitation squeezed through his eyes. "Do you think I have the time?" He snarled.

"I won't help you."

"Pity." And his hands were gone.

The spots where he had held so tightly onto her swelled slightly and instantly began to throb. _That's it?_ That was far too simple for it to just have ended. It was Madara Uchiha she was dealing with after all.

"Then it seems that both Hidan and Itachi will die."

"They would die no matter what." That was a card Taylor had already dismissed. It was not something she would allow him to bother her with.

Madara slid his fingers under his chin. "Given the opportunity, you would not intervene?"

"Of course I would." There was no hesitation because there was no question. If she could have, Taylor would have wanted to spare Hidan and Itachi any amount of pain she could. Well maybe not for Hidan. "But that doesn't matter. I found them again. They are both alive in this world."

The smile returned to Madara's face. "You mean Isami and Hidenori?" When Taylor didn't respond Madara patted her cheek. "And here I honestly thought you would be harder to fool."

"What are you talking about?" At this point Taylor rose to her feet as well, trying level the intimidation factor.

The smile vanished as quickly as it had returned, making Taylor's blood run cold. It was funny how much this man affected her. How much he terrified her. "I implanted memories in those boys long before I took over this body."

"You're lying." Taylor's teeth clamped together.

"You are so eager to see those two men that you love so much, anyone could have been their replacements. With enough persuasion, you would believe anything." Madara stepped closer to Taylor, towering over her. "I influenced this world just enough to bring together plenty of look alikes and coincidences. It was only a matter of time until I found you."

Doubt crept over Taylor's expression. It was clear to both her and Madara that he was getting to her. "Why involve these boys further? Hidenori is obviously struggling with his false memories, and why lead Isami on a wild goose chase for a girl who only loves him as a look alike." Madara tipped her chin gently upwards with a knuckle. "You deserve to be with your loved ones."

Taylor's shoulders slowly sagged. Was she really so influenced by what she thought was love, that she couldn't even make important distinctions? Her head drooped towards the floor, shrouding her face in darkness

"If you work with me, Taylor, you can see them again. You can _save_ them." Madara's hands squeezed Taylor's shoulders. "With your help, Taylor, I can even help save this world." He lifted Taylor's chin again so that her defeated appearance was brought into the moonlight. "As you are now, all you can get with them are moments. Moments where you can almost touch them and then you move on."

The blonde's whole entire body shook. _I need more than just moments. _Before he could press further Taylor muttered, "Tell me what to do."

"Hold still."

Taylor's eyes rushed upwards to see Madara's expression, a moment before he hit a pressure point in her neck.

She could feel herself slump to the ground, her heart rate sky rocketing. All of her hearing and sight were robbed from her. Had she not complied with the man? What was the sense of turning her trust against him when she had already given up?

The longer Taylor sat in the darkness, the more panicked she became. _What in the hell am I supposed to do now? More importantly, what is he going to do with me? _As she asked question after question, Taylor slowly felt her lungs shaking for air. It was like she was running out of oxygen. By now her heartbeat was hardly audible over the loud ringing screaming through the darkness.

_I need out!_ She could feel herself convulsing, arms flailing around madly but finding nothing to help stabilize her. As her whole being smothered, there was a shock and there was light.

* * *

><p>Air.<p>

Oxygen.

Light.

Warmth.

It all seeped through my skin as I my lungs struggled to overcompensate for the lack of respiration going on. My eyes squeezed shut, unable to handle the little light there was. Something pried my eyes open again; two droplets hit my eyeballs making everything seem green for only a few moments.

As the green faded out, the world came into focus. There were giant test tubes everywhere. "Take it slow. We don't know if you'll stay conscious this time."

Madara stood next to me, his orange mask appearing prominent in the dim room. He grazed his hand over my neck, then my wrist, and ended on meet. He was checking my vital spots. "You are circulating very nicely; I believe it would be proper to welcome you back."

From the corner of my eye, I could see him pressing buttons and my body began to tilt forward. "Wherem I?" My words slurred slightly together.

"Not Japan, if that's what you want to hear."

Not like his mask gave it away or anything.

I lifted my hand easier than I expected. Pushing myself forward I looked at him full on. "What happened?"

"I almost killed you."

"Why would you do that?!"

"It was the only way to give you the chance to regain your connection."

Silently I sat for a moment. "One of my bodies will die then. I can't survive in this state for more than two months."

A bottle flew into my lap. It rattled until it settled in the crease of my legs. It was the pills he had offered me before. "I set up a doppleganger soul in your other body. It should give your other body enough life to let it survive. Those pills will keep this body stable. I suggest you take them this time."

I turned the bottle over in my hand. "So what's on your end of this?" My grip tightened around the bottle.

Madara rounded the table. "You will be acting as a medium between this world and the other. While you are here you will also be aiding me in my goal for this world."

Immediately I protested. "I won't-"

His hand went up in the air. "The longer to sit here and spew idiocy, the worse things will get for Hidan-kun and Itachi-kun."

Every other thought fleeted from my mind. My breath hitched in my throat as it dawned on me that I could touch them finally. After waiting for an entire year, my entire being shook. I didn't have to wait for moments. I could see them.

"Hidan is going to be meeting up your friendly Konoha shinobis any day now." At his words, all of the good feelings left. Every ounce of hope shattered into the pit of my stomach. "By your reaction, I'm sure you know that this isn't anything good."

"I have to go."

A dark chuckle emitted from the masked man. "I thought that you couldn't do anything."

"I can stop them. Please. I need to stop them." I threw my legs over the side of the table.

"Zetsu will lead you there."

Out of the darkness Zetsu appeared. "Pleasant seeing you again, Taylor-chan. I believe we must make haste."

I glanced back at Madara who stood silently facing me. As Zetsu started leaving the room I tried to think of something to say to the masked Uchiha. Nothing came to mind. What do you say? 'I owe you one.' 'Thanks, pal.' 'I fucking hate you.' Nothing seemed to suit, so I just ran after the black and white creature making his exit.

When we emerged from the building, we were in a large open plane. My pupils dilated convulsively for several seconds. "We're close, aren't we?"

Zetsu never stopped. He just kept going walking. "We are. Hidan and Kakuzu are heading for the Leaf. They can't be that far off, we're already in the Land of Fire."

"I can save him." I spoke out loud, but it was primarily directed towards me.

"We'll see." His voice became much gruffer, switching sides I suppose.

As far as I could see, I couldn't see trees. Trees would lead me to Hidan. All I needed was to see trees. A pang ran through my chest. "Zetsu?"

A white eye looked at me.

"You've seen everything in this world, right?"

"I've seen conflicts."

"Well… Do you know what happened after I died?"

I hesitated to ask. Partly because I didn't want him to say no, partly because I didn't know if I wanted to know.

"You're worried about them." A kind sing song voice rang through the air.

"Yes."

I was unashamed. For a year I couldn't reach them. I dwelled in self-pity to not think about them. Now that I was revitalized, now that I could allow myself to hope and to feel again, all I wanted to do was drown myself in thoughts of them. I wanted it to be as if I had never parted with them. In some sadistic way I hoped that they missed me as much as I missed them. Was my death as painful for them as it was for me?

"It was as if you never existed." The gruff voice spoke calmly.

My throat burned. _Oh._

"Itachi and Hidan never spoke to one another again."

They were shinobi after all. Their whole entire lives revolved around being able to let go of feelings. My world revolved around feelings though. I was clearly in the disadvantage. "They were okay, right?"

"You could say that."

Our conversation dropped just like that. As hard as it was for me to hear that, I felt somewhat relieved. I guess I didn't want them to suffer as much as I thought I did. During all of my moments, where I could just about reach them, I feel as though I could feel them moving on. And that's part of what I wanted; for them to move on.

On the other hand I didn't believe it. I know that what I felt for them had been real, and it had been reciprocated. That walking plant wasn't going to make me think otherwise either. It had been too long and too hard for me to get back to where I was.

Now that I was back, I wasn't going to stop until I saw the people I loved again.

* * *

><p><strong>Holy shit, it really has been too long! I am so sorry dear readers, I didn't mean to slack! I just hit some pretty bad writer's block! So I tried to whip up this bad boy in a hurry just to get it out there! The next chapter will be reverting back to when Taylor died; I want to focus on the reactions of people to her death. So please, don't give up on me! Thank you to all that are still reading! ~NSR<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

><p>We traveled for solid day. Zetsu lead me as far as our feet could walk until even the moon didn't grant us enough light to see. The giant trees around us casted ghostly shadows everywhere, pushing me towards the fire Zetsu built. His fire building skills were obviously more dominant than his social skills. We hardly exchanged enough words for it to be called communication.<p>

Across from the fire I watched him sit straight up. His plant-like extensions were just cracked enough for him to watch me. It didn't bother me much though. I knew what I needed to do. I knew what I wanted.

Hidan was close. My entire body ached in anticipation. The earth below me pulsated, whispering of his presence. It was like waiting for Christmas. But with urgency I couldn't control. I had told myself I wouldn't interfere. This world had a timeline that I was not meant to be apart. Then again, what mattered what happened behind the scenes?

Occasionally my mind wandered to the reality around me. I tried not to think too much of it though. I tried to keep Isami and Hidenori from my thoughts. I had been so sure that they were the real thing. Reincarnation and shit, right? How foolish had I been? How blinded by love and desperation was I to believe that I had found the men that I love together at last. How stupid.

The next morning we wasted no time being on our way. We interchanged no words at all for several hours. The sun was high and our shadows hid beneath us before I finally was getting irritated with the walking. How far away can that desolate forest be anyways? "Zetsu," I spoke to my companion. He merely grunted in acknowledgement. "Are we close?"

Not missing a beat he grabbed me by the arm and flitted us into a neighboring tree. "_I'd say we're just in time_."

"What?" I snapped my head towards him. There was no way; there was not a person in sight. Zetsu roped me in closer to him.

"**Stay put and stay hidden."** He commanded before sinking into the tree. That little magic trick of his was much creepier in person.

I did as he said though and hugged closer to the trunk of the tree. With my eyes peeled I kept scanning the surrounding area. Where were they? _Just in time my ass._ A glint caught my eye. A couple thousand feet away, it glinted again. Who was that? Hidan? Shikamaru? My eyes strained painfully trying to make them out. I couldn't even see the figure though. Just the occasional glint. Were they signaling each other?

_Someone must be coming_.

My eyes strained to look beyond the sunlight that was blaring into my vision. From where I was my ears always held a battle against the wind cycloning around my head. Just as I had before, I saw another glint. Just a small one from around one of the skyscraping trees, but there it was.

The area from where the first flash of light came from birthed a shadow. The shadow grew, slowly but surely, out of and past the tree it started at. Obviously it was no ordinary shadow, it looked alive, serpent like and focused. It must've been a part of Shikamaru's shadow jutsu. Meaning he wasn't just exercising; he was hunting.

His hunt wasn't long before all of the action started. Two figures jumped out of their paths, shortly before being encompassed by a boom of black smoke. "Kakuzu!" My stomach fell to the earth at the sound of Hidan's voice.

I had remembered the fight being paced so that I could follow it. But that wasn't the reality. From the distance I was at and the speed that they battled with, it was impossible for me to follow along. Even Zetsu was well hidden; I couldn't find a single clue as to where he had hidden himself.

With or without Zetsu's consent, I needed to be closer. There was only one branch with in dropping distance. If I kept myself very tight to the trunk, there would be no worry of dropping. Maybe I could catch myself anyways. Examining the tree itself the likely hood of me surviving a fall would be slim to none. The trunks in this dying forest were stubborn to grow many branches, and most of the branches that did stem out were at least twenty feet or more off the ground. _I'll scale the tree to the ground. I need to be closer._

Madara brought me back to use me as tool; a tool that could give him extreme leverage in two worlds. But I had my own ambitions. I agreed to this save the two men I loved. And being this close to the verge of saving Hidan, this wasn't an opportunity to let slip by because of some height.

* * *

><p>I toppled to the ground with much more mass than I would have liked. Hardly eating for an entire year, and I still fell to the ground like a giant sack of potatoes. The fight was taking near a half mile from me. But I could see it. I could just make out two figures flitting all around the trees. As I ran along the skirts of tree bases, I could feel the earth shuddering under the intensity and power of the shinobi duking it out.<p>

Shards of wood flew into the ground near my feet. Suddenly there was silence. Hidan and Kakuzu were standing at one side of a crater; Shikamaru, Chiba, Ino, and Kakashi standing at the other. This was my chance to intervene. It was the one time I had to safely arbitrate. I was on the side of the Konoha ninjas, a slight obstacle but nothing that I couldn't just run around.

Assuming that I had no chakra accent, I tried to not draw any more attention to myself than I already could by my clumsy running. Everyone seemed to be focused on their opponents so for all intents and purposes I just let myself believe I was unseen. Not saying I didn't feel an ever present peripheral vision watching me.

Hidan had started taunting Asuma's pupils as I rounded onto his side of the battleground. Blood that was already pounding through my veins began to floor my body with newfound speed.

With not even 25 feet between us, Kakuzu had his eyes trained on me, and Hidan was still running his mouth. At 15 feet Hidan had caught on to Kakuzu. At 10 feet Hidan began gripping his scythe. At 10 feet he had himself at full on attack mode and it was quickly being aimed at me. At 5 feet I was close enough to him that I barreled myself into him. His scythe went flying off to the side.

In a moment I was swept away by the smell of fresh air, and a cool summer's rain. The musky campfire smell was all but washed away. A fistful of his torn cloak was twisted up inside my hand. That moment ended all too soon.

Quickly and in the blink of an eye I was pounded onto my back with his forearm digging into neck. I writhed below him in the dirt grabbing at his arm in desperate attempts to free myself. "Hi…Hida.." Inside my throat my vocal chords were also beginning to crush just as my windpipe allowed to oxygen to pass to my lungs.

"Who the fuck are you?!" He screamed at me.

As much pain as I felt at that moment, I looked up and my heart beat so fast. Everything else faded away. My body quieted itself. There was nothing wrong all of the sudden. This was it. This was Hidan. The struggle between us diminished and Hidan eased off of my neck. I could feel his body trembling. His deep mauve eyes seemed to seep into me, drinking in everything that I was. It was as if he was about to put his hand through a cloud of mist as his fingers ran over my hair that was sprawled over the earth.

"Hidan." I reached up and lay my hand over his face.

"How… Where did you…" His gaze flew over our surroundings and suddenly his body tightened.

In an instant he had his scythe at hand and was blocking a knife. A kunai crashed down onto his scythe and standing in front of him was Kakashi. "A little early to be letting your guard down, don't you think?"

Soon I was pressed between them and Kakashi came off just as bewildered as Hidan was. I had to explain and calm both sides, but eventually with me by his side, Hidan was able to calm himself.

There was no more fighting, and Kakuzu had escaped. Shikamaru and Hidan came to terms with each other and the Konoha group allowed Hidan and I to leave as easy as that. Hidan swept me off of my feet and we went to start a new life together.

* * *

><p>I wish that was how the following events had unfolded. Sadly, it was not though. It took me almost 45 minutes to get myself onto the ground. By that time Kakuzu and Hidan had been split apart and Hidan had been forced into the thicker nearby forest. The moment my feet hit the ground, I was running. Taking off in the direction I had seen Shikamaru running toward, I strained to hear any sounds of a fight. Nothing<p>

The forest was dark, hardly any light penetrating the trees the further I ran in. For a second, I stopped and searched for a hint that they were close. An echo hit my ears. It was an insane cackle. _Hidan_. My feet dug hard in to the dirt, kicking it up behind me. The sounds of metal wiring being strung along whispered into my ears. _If I run hard enough, I can still save him._ More cackling and unintelligible yelling. _Please, just a little more time._ After coming this far, I wasn't going to just let what was practically standing in front of me to be stolen.

There was little shrubbery to dodge, and the trees were beginning to be farther apart, allowing me a little more speed. As much speed as I could until a wire caught my hair and forced me to slow down. All around me, metal wires were sewn into the trees, small paper bombs strung out everywhere.

Hidan and Shikamaru could barely be seen ahead me. A small flare flew through the air. This was it. The end of the line and everything around me erupted. As loud as I screamed, my voice couldn't be heard over the explosion. I was thrown backwards a couple feet and slammed into a tree. As the last of the bombs went off I could hear Hidan's last cursed words to Shikamaru.

A gash on my head ran blood over my brow and into my eyes. I tried to stand, but my leg gave out. At the very least I had a sprained ankle for sure. The dust wasn't yet settled as I heard footsteps heading away from the site. Shikamaru. His vengeance was completed, there was no need to stick around.

It wasn't until I tripped over a large rock that it hit me. Hidan was buried beneath me. Alive and torn to bits. My chest felt like it was collapsing. My hands ripped at one rock after the other. I was hardly making any progress when a hand moved me out of the way. Zetsu stepped in my place. Small cuts blistered my hands. "Please, Zetsu." I lowered my head as my voice choked, "Please save Hidan."

It was almost two hours before Zetsu had the hole dug up and had Hidan all lain out. The first appendage he pulled out forced a gag from me. It was apparently his thigh. Then came his torso and all the burns and cuts tearing into it. Nothing was as bad as when Zetsu pulled his hands out and took the Akatsuki ring from Hidan's hands. Ironically, the last thing to be pulled out of the damn hole in the ground was Hidan himself, his entire head.

I had half-expected him to be screaming and throwing a big fit about how much pain he was in, but there was none of that. His eyes were shut. In some ways it could be seen as peaceful, although knowing Hidan all I could make out was the struggle he had kept to stay awake.

"He's not dead is he?" A helpless tone squeaked through my voice.

"**As if we would be so lucky.**" Dark Zetsu grumbled.

"_No worries Miss, Madara-sama will take care of this." _A white hand extended towards me._ "Just come over here, please."_

As best as I could I crawled to Zetsu and took hold of his hand. The shards of Hidan were pushed together to make him look almost whole again. Dark Zetsu reached to Hidan's abdomen and his body began sinking into the ground. Not just Hidan either, Zetsu and I as well. Surprisingly, it felt like I was burying myself into wet sand. On instinct I caught my breath as my head dunk into the ground.

And in another instant, we were in a semi well lit room. The lights were warm but the ground was cold. I was sitting in a seat against a wall. Across the room I saw two blacked cloaked figures. They stood over a body.

Hidan.

There is a certain sort of magic and grace that flows into slow motion in medical dramas. The doctors' orchestrate their surgical instruments like wands and everything seems to fit together. That's the feeling I gathered from Madara. Zetsu stood beside him as if he would be of any assistance, but Madara wove his hands with a type of precision that probably took decades to master. Soft gleams of green and blue cascaded past him, leaking a type of energy that made me experience a refreshing feeling. Just by sitting in its path I felt as if I had been resting for a hundred years.

When the warmth suddenly disappeared, I was pulled from my dreamlike state and awoken by an alarming blaze of red. A sound filtered in through the air, almost like the air in the room was funneling faster and faster. I pushed myself to my feet. Zetsu took a step to the side. Hidan lay on the table, his body still laced with gashes and burns. As the sound continued, I watched the wounds covering his body dissipate and grow together.

Like a swimmer bursting through the water, Hidan took a large breath. His chest rose and as it fell I could see his body fall back into life. "Did he die?" I asked aloud. His hands twitched and his toes curled.

A short, dark chuckle ground out of Madara. "It would take more than this to silence him. Zetsu merely sedated him in advance for this."

The sound picked up in pace to match Hidan's rising movement. Suddenly the sound stopped and Hidan's eyes flew open as he gasped for air. Every inch of his body tightened, his muscles stretching his skin tight and bulging his veins.

"Zetsu." I called to the walking Aloe Vera. "Did you happen to find his pendant?" A touch of urgency coursing through my voice.

"**You mean this piece of nonsense?**" He pulled the Jashinist's signature piece from the depths of his cloak.

Completely disregarding his comment, I snatched the necklace from his black hand. Gluing my eyes back onto Hidan I wasn't sure if I should have been relieved or worried that he hadn't moved. In fact his eyes were still wide open and staring at the ceiling.

With apprehension squeezing through my pores I finally took one step closer. This was my moment to be brave. Every breath, every hour away from him had come to this. I interwove my fingers into his, my eyes never moving from his face. "Hidan." I whispered to him.

His eyes slowly moved to meet mine. Then his head followed. "Taylor." Finally I realized that all along I had been worried. I was completely terrified of this moment. Ever since my encounter with Hidan's look-alike, I had been horrified that when the time came for this moment, he wouldn't recognize me; that he would completely reject me. All of my doubt suddenly goes away.

"Hi."

My death, an entire year, and his almost downfall, and all I could think of to say was 'hi'? Smooth.

"Have I died?" Hidan's voice had a tone of quietness in it that I had never experienced in him before.

My hand tightened around his. "No." I said it almost incredulously. "Of course not. You're alive."

His silver brow furrowed together, not quite fitting two and two together. "…Are you?"

I brought his hand to my face. Pressing his palm to my cheek consequently formed a lump in my throat. "Very much so." I attempted to force the lump into submission, failing miserably. "But I have died everyday waiting for this."

Hidan pulled himself up and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He ran his hands over my cheeks and down over my shoulders. Time stood still as his fingers combed through my long hair. That was the first time I actually acknowledged my hair being long again. Hidan gripped my shoulders before pulling me into him. His arms tightened around me. I swear at that moment I heard music. Bells chiming and yet it was silent.

The silence accompanied by Hidan's deep breaths, like he was drinking in every essence of my being. "It really is you." Impossibly so, he pulled me tighter. "I thought you were dead. Don't ever pull something like that again.

I gripped his back, but no contest to Hidan's vice grip. My eyes, however, were trained on Madara. He stood opposite of Hidan and I. His orange mask was all I could make out as he faded into the shadows of the room. A deathly glimmer flashed; his sharingan. Madara wasn't giving us space; he was giving me a warning.

He would be back.

"I'm not going anywhere." I said. As comforting as I'm sure they came across, they were meant for more than that. I was not going to be threatened by Madara. He needed me for his goals as much as I needed him for mine. We were equals, not cat and mouse. That much needed to be clear.

Once again Hidan ran his hands over me, reassuring himself that I was in front of him. This is what I had been waiting for. Madara was not going to ruin it for me.

* * *

><p>After a long hiatus, I am back. I am so sorry for any of my readers who are still hanging out. I wasn't sure in which direction I wanted to take the story, in fear of ruining it. Again I ask that if you have any suggestions, tips, criticism, or just telling me you are still out there, please leave me a review. Thank you all so much! <strong>~NSR<strong>


End file.
